A BILL to amend and reenact §61-8D-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to creating a new offense for child
neglect by a parent, guardian or custodian which creates a
substantial risk of bodily injury and providing penalties upon
conviction.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §61-8D-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

(a) If anya parent, guardian or custodian shall neglect
neglects a child and by such neglect cause saidcauses a child
bodily injury, as such term is defined in section one, article
eight-b of this chapter, then suchthe parent, guardian or
custodian shall beis guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000
dollars or committed to the custody of the Division of Corrections
for not less than one nor more than three years, or in the
discretion of the court, be confined in the county jail for not
more than one year, or both such fine and confinement or
imprisonment.

(b) If anya parent, guardian or custodian shall neglectneglects a child and by such neglect cause saidthe child serious
bodily injury, as such term is defined in section one, article
eight-b of this chapter, then suchthe parent, guardian or
custodian shall beis guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than $300 nor more than $1,000
dollars or committed to the custody of the Division of Corrections
for not less than one nor more than ten years, or both such fine
and imprisonmentfined and imprisoned.

(c) If a parent, guardian or custodian grossly neglects a
child and by that gross neglect creates a substantial risk of
serious bodily injury, as defined in section one, article eight-b
of this chapter, or of death to the child, then the parent,
guardian or custodian is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than $3,000 dollars and confined
to the custody of the Division of Corrections for not less than one
nor more than five years.

(d) If a parent, guardian or custodian neglects a child and by
that neglect creates a substantial risk of bodily injury, as
defined in section one, article eight-b of this chapter, to the
child, then the parent, guardian or custodian, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, for a first offense,
shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or confined
in jail not less than thirty days nor more than six months or both
fined and confined. All persons convicted of a first offense under
this subsection shall also be required to complete a parenting plan
and parenting education class. For a second offense, the parent,
guardian or custodian is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined no more than $1,000 and confined
in jail not less than thirty days nor not more than one year. For
a third or subsequent offense, the parent, guardian or custodian is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than $2,000 and imprisoned in a state correctional facility
not less than one year nor more than three years.

(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply:

(1) if the neglect by the parent, guardian or custodian is
due primarily to a lack of financial means on the part of such
parent, guardian or custodian.;

(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply

(2) to any parent, guardian or custodian who fails or refuses,
or allows another person to fail or refuse, to supply a child under
the care, custody or control of such parent, guardian or custodian
with necessary medical care, when such medical care conflicts with
the tenets and practices of a recognized religious denomination or
order of which such parent, guardian or custodian is an adherent or
member.

(e) Any person who grossly neglects a child and by the gross
neglect creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or of
death to the child is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than three thousand dollars and
confined to the custody of the division of corrections for not less
than one nor more than five years.